vaughan



1,465,031 B. G. VAUGHAN.

MATCH MAKING MACHINE v Filed July 28,1922 2 sheets-sheet 1 Aug. 14, 1923.

- 5 Q. Vaughan HTTORNEYS Aug..l4, 1923..

4 VAUGHAN MATCH MAKING MACHINE Filed July 28. 1922 HIMIWHIWNINE.

" 2 Sheets-Sheet 2' j/vvs/vTok. W i 56. Vaughan 5 r rnr tan 'BERNABD G. VAUGHAN, 0F JULIET, ILLINOIS,, ASSIGNOR TO NATIONAL MATCH COMPANY, OF 'J'OLIET, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

MATCH-MAKING MACHINE.

Application filed 11113 28,- 1922. Serial No. 578,198-

2" 0 all whom z'trnag; concern; 1 v

"Be it known that I; BERNARD Gr. VAUGHAN,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Johet, Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Match-Making Machines, of which the following is a full,

clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to match making machines of the type that comprise a vertically-disposed hopper filled with match splints, and a reciprocating setting head workman from the filling machine to the match making machine and dumped manually intothc. hopper of the match making machine: This method of handling match splints requires the services of several operatives for carrying the match splint receptacles from the filling machine to the match makingmachine, it requires the services of operatives who are carefulvand conscientious in order to insure an adequate supply of match splints to the match making machine, and even when careful operatives are employed, there is considerable waste of match splints, due to the splints spilling out of the receptacles when they are being carried from the filling machine to the match making machine and when they are being dumped into the hopper of the latter. The main object of my invention'is to provide a match making machine which comprises as an integral part thereof an apparatus of novel construction for arranging match splints in an orderly manner and feeding the splint-s directly into the hopper from whichthe setting head of the machine removes the splints and inserts them in the endless match. splint carrier.

Another object is to provide a novel mechatrate the preferred form of my invention deslgnates the vertically-disposed hopper of nism' for feeding match splints to the hopper of a match making machine and for automatically cut-ting off the supply of splints to the hopper when said hopper becomes full;

And still another object is to provide a cmatch making machine having the charac- IGI'ISUCS above referred to that is of simple construction, reliable in operation and of such design that improperly arranged match splints will be automatically discharged from the splint feeding mechanism befbre they reach the hopper of the machine.

Figure l of the drawings is a sidecele- -vat-i.onal view, partly broken away, of the match splint feeding mechanism of a. match .maklng machine constructed in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is an end elevational view of said mechanism. matches 111 Figure 3 is a top plan view of a portion of the match splint hopper and the trough through which the match splints move while being fed into the hopper.

Figure 4 is a side clevational view of the parts shown in igure 3: and I Figures 5 and 6 are detail views of the clutch that is used for rendering the match splint distributing member inoperative when the hopper of the machine becomes filled, Figure 5 being a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 6 and Figure 6 being a longitudinal sectional view through the co-operating members of the clutch Referring to the drawings which illus- A a match making machine of the type that is provided with a reciprocating setting hear (not shown) for receiving the splints from the lower end of the hopper A and inserting the splints in an endless carrier (not shown) that dips the splints in the solutions that are used to treat the splints and form the heads of the matches.

My improved match making machine comprises a match splint distributing mem ber B which preferably consists of a horizontally-disposed, rotatable screen provided at one end with an opening into which the match splints are dischargedinto the inter rior Of same from a chute Cthat leads-from a suitable source. of supply of match splints, said distributing member B being rotatably mounted in a housing B which is provided B arranged above a number of downwardly-inclined chutes D that lead to a hori-. zontally-dlsposed trough E through which the match splints are fed to the upper end of the hopper A of the machine. The trough E arranged at right angles to the chutes D and a feeding device i is pr vided for feeding the match splints through the trough Einto the upper end of the hopper A. In the form of'niy invention herein illustrated the match splint feeding device l consists of an endless sprocket ar und sprocket wheels 1 and 9 and over guides 25 on the trough E and provided with teeth or lingers 4t that project downwardly into the trough E so as to move the match splints longitudinally through said trough into the hopper A of the machine when the chain T is traveling" in the direction indicated by the arrows in Figure 1. The sprocket wheel 2 is an idlerand the sprocket wheel 1 is connected to a horizontally-disposed'shaft if that is driven by a belt 5 which passes around a drive pulley on a shaft 6 that is driven from any suitable source of power, as for, example. by a drive belt 7, shown in Figure 1..

The fingers l of the splint feeding device eXte .d transiersely of the trough E and virtually form partitions in s trough that divide the interior same into a number of con'ipartments, each of which holds a certain approximate number of splints, which compartments travel 1on tudinally of the trough l and discharge the match splints onto a in rmember at the left hand end of the troi. h E that feeds the splints towards the discharge openingin the left hand end of the trough E that is arranged above the hopper i i of the machine. The match splints pass through the meshes of the scr en B downwardly into the chutes D and travel through said chutes endwise, and as the trough E is arranged at right angles to the chutes D, the splints will lie transversely of the trough in parallel to the fingers il: of the feeding device ll. In order to insure the splints beinsr arranged in an orderly manner, in parallel IUldlllOIl to each other, and in parallel relation to the lingers l of the splint feed ing device, means is provided for rccipro eating the trough E endwise while the splints are being fed through said trough. In the form of my invention herein illus trated the means just referred to consists of a vertically-disposed shaft 8 rotatably mounted in a stationary bearing 9 and pro vided at its upper end with an eccentricallydisposed pin 10 that projects into a hole in a member 11 on the underside of the trough E, the rotary movement of said shaft 8 runsingthe trough E to be reciprocatcd ct idw se in stationary guides E in which it slides.

match The shaft 8 can be driven by any suitable means, such, for example, as a beveled pinion on the lower end of same that meshes with a beveled pinion 13 on a horizontallydisposed shaft 14- provideo. with a worm 15 that meshes with a worm gear 1 6 secured to the drive shaft 6. r

The trough E is provided at its left hand end w1th a vibrating member Lt, previously referred to, that preferably consists of the troughby means-0f a projection 18 on said member that passes through an eye 19 on the bottom of the trough, as shown in Figure l, and connect the left hand end of said member G with a vibrating means that rocks said member when the splint feeding device F is in operation, the 'vilwatin r means herein illustrated consisting of a horizontally-disposed shaft 20 mounted in stationary members 21 of the frame of the machine and provided with a disk 22. that is equipped with a laterally-projacting, ecccntrirally-disposed'pin 24: that f ts in a bearing on the underside of the member 'G, as shown in Figure 4;, a portion of the bottom of the trough hl being broken away in Figure 3 so as to show the disk 22.

shaft 20 is driven by a belt 26 that passes around a pulley combined with the sprocket wl eel l of the splint feeding device F. so as to cauue the free end of'the member G move upwardly and downwardl when the splint feeding device F is in operation. In view of the fact that the member G is c ried by the reciprocatingtrough it, said member G exerts pressure on the match. splints in a direction to push them upwardly and forwardly towards the discharge opening in the left hand end of the trough E through which the match splints fall into the hopper A. The trough E is provided at opposite sides of the member G with openinns 27, as shown in Figure 3, which so arranged that improperly arranged The splints will drop through said openings into a suction conduit 28 having a funnelshaped portion that is arranged underneath the notched feeding member Gr. Accordingly, any match splints being fed through the trough E that are not arranged trancversely of said trough'in parallel relation to the fingers l of the feeding device F will escape through the openings 27 in the trough into the suction conduit 28, thereby preventing improperly positioned splints :"agaiinstsame when sa'id' iin'gers'are travel- 7 ditio'nsl from bei ng discharged "into the" hopper A of 1 the machine. In order to insure the ends of the: feeding fingers e bearing' snugly against *tliebottom of th'e trough -E, said trough is provided with a false {bottom-formed by a resilient strip 29 that has sufiicient tension to insurer-lie ends oflthe fingers hearing The splint distributing screen becomes" filled With matcl splints, a

the sp a Way that-said memberwnl close an electric c-irctutBQ and thusen'ergiZe' a solenoid that trips said clutch when the hopper A becomes filled with in'atclr splints, and the a'djacent portion of-"the trough E becomes filled wlth match spl1ntsto-suchan eX-' tent that said splints exertipressureon the right h'andend of the governing'inember 31, and thus rock said member ina direction to close "thecircuit {32 Which-it controls, the governing member 31 being so 'a-r ranged that it normally floats; upon the sup 'ply of splints in the' hopper.

previously referred to may c'onsist-of two co-operating clutchfmembers- 3e and 34 and a tripping device *35-"connected, to the core of thesolenoid 33m suclra Way that when sa dsolenoid 1s energized, the tr1pping device 35 ivill "be moved Upwardly,

thereby causingthefclutch members '34 and 34 to be disengaged, whereupon "thesplint distributing member B will cease to rotate When the distributing member B is at rest "thesupply ofsplints to the-chutes Will be c'utofffbutthe continued operation fof the setting head of "tll'ennaclnne causes splints to be removed from the 'loWer end otthe hopper Agthereby reducing the quan tity of splints in the left hand portion of the trough E, and consequently, permitting the governing member 31 to rock in a di rection to open the circuit 32 and cause the core of the solenoid 33 to move in a direction to restore the clutch tripping de vice 35 to its normal inoperative position, whereupon the clutch members 34 and 34 will be re-engaged so as to resume the feed ing of the match splints t the trough E.

The reciprocating movement that .is imparted to the trough E is very slight, only enough to agitate the splints sufficiently to straighten them out or arrange them by Letters Patent is:

The clutch parallel relation'to each other, and the lefthnnd portion of saidtrough in which the discharge opening is formed is preierably mounted direct 'upon'the upper end of :the' hopper A, so as to insure the-discharge 'portion' of the trough remaining 111 operative relationship \viththe upper end of the hopper A, \Vhile I haveherein illustrated and described the splint feeding device consisting of an endless chain provided with *fingers that travel through 'the trough E,

and have illustrated :the particular means which l am now using in my commercial machine for reciprocating the trough, for actuating the-feeding member G inthe*discharge portion of said trough and for rendering "the splint distributingmember l3 inoperative when the hopper A of the ma "chine"becomes filled with match splints, I avlsh it to lie-understood that 1t 18 imma- *irderly manner before they are introduced into saidhopper.

Having thus described my 'IDVQHUOD, Whatl claim as new and desire to secure 1; A match making machine, comprising a hopper adapted'to hold match splints that are removedttroni the hopper and inserted in'the match splint carrier of the machine,

":1 match splint feeding mechanism for in troducing-match splints directly illig said Shopper, a" distributing "member adapted to receive match splints from a source of supplyand deliver them to said "feeding mechanism,-and means for automatically rendering said distributing member inoperative undercertain conditions so to interrupt the delivery of the splints to said feeding mechanism.

2-. iiimatch 'making machine, comprising ahopper adapted to hold match splints that are removed trom'the hopper and inserted in the match splint carrier of the machine,

inechanism-mor' arranging match splints in an orderly manner and feeding them directly into "said hopper, a distributing meming match in said hopper has been diminished said hopper, means forsupplysplints to said mechanism, and scans for automatically cutting off the supply of splints to said feeding mechanism when the supply of splints in said hopper exceeds a certain amount and for resuming the supply of splints to said feeding mechanism when the supply of splints to norrectly into vibrating member carried by the trough and arranged. adjacent the discharge end thereof for directing the splints towards said hopper.

5. A match making machine, comprising a hopper adapted to hold match splints that are removed from the hopper and inserted in the match splint carrier of the machine, a trough leading to said hopper, means for introducing match. splints into said trough,

' so that they extend crosswise of the same,

means for feeding the splints through said trough towards said hopper, a vibrating dcvice arranged in the bottom of the trough adjacent to the discharge end of said trough, and opening in the trough adjacent said vibrating device for permitting improperly positioned splints to escape from the trough.

6. Amatch making machine, comprising a hopper adapted to hold match splints that are removed from the hopper and inserted in the match splint carrier of the machine, a trough arranged at the upper end of said hopper, means ror delivering splints to said trough crosswise of the trough, means for feeding the splints longitudinally through said trough, a pivotally mounted feeding 'member arranged in the bottom of the trough adjacent the discharge end of the trough for directing the splints towards sa1d hopper, and mechanism for reciprocating said trough and rockingsaid feed member.

7. A match making machine, comprising a hopper aoapted to hold match splints that are removed from the hopper and inserted in the match splint carrier, of the machine, a trough arranged at the upper end of said hopper, means for delivering match splints into said trough crosswise of the trougc, means for feeding the splints longitudinally through said trough, a vibrating feeding member carried by the trough and arranged in a slot i the bottom of the trough adjacent the discharge end of the trough for directing the splints towards said hopper, mechanism for reciprocating said trough and simultaneously rocking said feeding member, openings in the trough at opposite sides of saidvibrating feeding member for permitting improperly positioned match splints to escape from the trough, and a suction device for withdrawing improperly positioned splints through said openings,

8. A match making machine, comprising a hopper adapted to hold match splints that are removed from the hopper and inserted in the match splint carrier of the machine, a trough arranged at the upper end of said hopper, means for moving match splints longitudinally of the trough towards said hopper, means for agitating said trough endwise to arrange the splints in parallel relation, a downwardly-inclined, pivotally mounted feeding member arranged in the bottom of the trough adjacent the discharge end thereof, and means for vibrating said feeding member.

9. A match making machine, comprising a hopper adapted to hold match splints that are removed from the hopper and inserted in the match splint carrier of the machine, a horizontally-disposed trough arranged adjacent the upper end of said hopper and provided with a resilient bottom, means for delivering match splints to said trough, and a splint feeding device comprising portions that travel longitudinally through said trough in engagement with the bottom of the trough.

B. e. VAUGHAJ. 

